One-of-a-kind degrees p1 - Military - Career Choices - Military Times EDGE

Like most college students, you’re probably looking for a major that will interest and excite you — and lead to great employment options down the road. Whether you’re going for an associate or have your sights set on a Ph.D., think outside the box with this selection of one-of-a-kind college degree programs seemingly tailor-made for men and women with military experience.

Associate: Shooting and hunting sport management

• Where: Montgomery Community College, Troy, N.C.

• What: Associate degree: 71 credit hours; certificate: 15 credit hours.

• Why: Looking to turn your interest in and experience with firearms into a post-military career? Gain knowledge to work in the retail shooting and hunting sports sales and service industry — think Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, or even a private game preserve — with a shooting and hunting sports management degree. In existence at MCC since 2007, the program is offered exclusively online. The program fills a void in an industry that has long relied on on-the-job training to equip its employees with the knowledge needed to serve its customers, instructor Len Fagan said. The degree, which is a concentration under the title of business administration, gives students a combination of business skills, technical knowledge unique to the industry, and familiarity with complex and ever-changing state and federal firearms regulations.

• Core classes: Hands-on participation is a big part of the core curriculum. “It’s actually getting out in the field, actually hunting, actually participating in shooting sports,” Fagan said. Classes include gun shop management, sports hunting and shooting sports management.

• Employment outlook: “This industry is rather small, but there are tremendous opportunities for dedicated individuals,” Fagan said. “We have calls that come in weekly, looking for good people.” Retired Army Special Forces Sgt. Maj. Kory Frye recently completed the certificate in shooting and hunting sports management while simultaneously earning an associate degree in gunsmithing. He had high praise for the new program. “There are plenty of things that can teach you how to manage a business,” he said. “But if you are going to go into shooting and hunting sports management, you are not selling hamburgers. You are not selling houses. The more you know about shooting, the better.”

Bachelor’s: Heavy Equipment Service Engineering Technology

• Where: Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Mich.

• What: Bachelor’s degree: 64 credit hours after completing an associate degree in heavy equipment technology or the equivalent.

• Why: In existence since 1991, this bachelor’s remains the only four-year degree of its kind in the nation. Part of the College of Engineering Technology, the program teaches the skills and knowledge required to test, diagnose, service and repair complex electrical/electronic systems used on equipment in industries ranging from agriculture and forestry to construction and trucking. The hands-on program fills a void in practical applications of technology, professor Gary Maike said. Graduates typically go on to jobs with titles such as maintenance engineer, fleet manager or mobile service technician, he said.

• Core classes: While required general education classes may have an online option, heavy equipment classes are intensive campus-based lab courses, Maike said. Two 12-week, paid summer internships — one after completion of a student’s sophomore year and another after his or her junior year — are required, as well as completion of a project related to the internships. Courses include heavy equipment advanced hydraulic systems, applied failure analysis and fleet management.

• Employment outlook: “As of our last graduate survey … we have 100 percent (job) placement,” Maike said. “A lot of companies now have requirements to hire personnel with bachelor’s (degrees).”

Master’s: Criminalistic Science

• Where: Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia

• What: Master’s degree: 48 credit hours with an undergraduate degree in criminal justice or a related field.

• Perk: The school is offering a 40 percent tuition discount to law enforcement officers — including service members in a law enforcement-related MOS/AFSC/rating.

• Why: The program, which launched in September, fills a void among law enforcement officers and those with undergraduate degrees in criminal justice who need additional education and training in disciplines such as ballistics, fingerprint analysis and blood-stain pattern analysis. Those contemplating going into it have tended to shy away from the sciences and mathematics courses, said William Welsh Jr., director of the program and a retired Delaware County (Pa.) detective. This master’s is designed to teach the science component that goes with particular criminalistic disciplines. “Currently, in law enforcement, there are thousands of hours that a person has to take in specialized training — maybe 100 in fingerprints, 40 hours in footwear and tire trace,” Welsh said. This program gives students advanced training and exposure. Because of the degree’s lab requirements, courses are campus-based.

• Core classes: Courses are taught by working professionals in the law enforcement field and must be taken in a certain order. They include vehicle accident analysis and bloodstain pattern analysis.

• Employment outlook: Criminal justice jobs continue to be in demand, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ph.d: Aviation

• Where: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.

• What: Ph.D.: 90 credit hours or 60 credit hours above a master’s degree

• Why: With the first class of students scheduled to being coursework in January, Embry-Riddle’s Ph.D. in aviation — the only such program in the U.S. — aims to fill a need in the aviation industry for people who can do deep research, said Tim Brady, dean of the school’s college of aviation. There are many areas of aviation, including financial and operational issues, not currently covered by other doctoral degrees, Brady said. The program will cover such issues and emphasize research and analysis to solve problems and challenges in the field.

• Coursework: Most coursework can be completed online, with the exception of three two-credit-hour residencies that must be done at an Embry-Riddle location. The curriculum consists of 24 hours of core courses, including foundations of aviation, aviation safety management systems, the economic environment of aviation and the legal environment of aviation. For the first couple of years of the program, Brady said, students will further specialize in operations, to include the national air traffic system, strategies for organizational dynamics in aviation, globalization and the aviation environment, and current practices and future trends in aviation. Students will take a qualifying exam before proceeding to 18 hours of work in the dissertation phase, Brady said.

• Employment outlook: Many students likely already will be employed in the aviation industry. “We feel like many of our students will either be current faculty teaching in an aviation program or those who want to be faculty,” Brady said.